The Time is Coming
by Estantia
Summary: The portal connecting the human universe to Neopets has collapsed and a mysterious prophecy speaks of six people who will pull it back together. Connects into several smaller stories of mine.
1. Take a circle, watch it spin

Greetings!

I know it's been a while, but here's a completed offering I finally got round to admitting I was never going to submit to the Neopian times, but I was told that people would like to read, so here you go, enjoy!

Set in Neopia, species, places, previous plots etc copyright to whoever owns it. Kriasa is mine though, and the subplots (SO MANY SUB-PLOTS) are mine also. This also threads into other stories into the Neopia fandom, I will mention them once I've er, actually remembered what the names of them are...

Enjoy!

* * *

The starry Pteri panted, looking over the edge off the cliff she had been pushed to. She'd been chased so far... for so long... how long could she keep doing this? How long would she keep singing the prophecies they hated so much? Singing the songs that needed to be sung?

She turned and saw them close behind, her weary wings stretched and she jumped off the cliff, dipping to swoop out over the sea, climbing in altitude as her wings caught the currents of air with the whoosh that every flyer lives for.

Her body shuddered as she felt her fire fade slightly, then rise, brighten. New strength entered her and she soared upwards, she needed height for this... Her mind wasn't exactly guiding her, more working with her instinct as the need to sing rolled up her throat.

She suddenly turned and face her pursuers as the golden mark in the middle of her forehead glowed brightly, light expanding. The crowd faltered at the defiant Pteri challenging them with power. A slight trace of worry crossed the bird's mind, she was burning too hotly, too brightly, too vivid to last. Then her mind cleared of worry, giving itself over to the power of the song.

She spread her wings out to their fullest extent, suspended in the golden glow around her as she threw her head back, tail hanging straight down as she started to sing, barely noting that she was standing on air as her words spread out, louder and clearer than ever, spreading further than they should be able to, bourne on magic.

_A story told by gold star's sight_

_Shall weave its way through endless night._

_Through skies so high and caverns deep,_

_From those who wake to those who sleep._

_All are touched by what I say_

_All tied in that fateful day._

_Take a circle, watch it spin_

'_Tween the worlds of thick and thin._

_Watch it bend and lose its shape_

_See the chaos in its wake._

_Take some seeds and when they've grown_

_Then they shall reap what I have sown._

The bird felt her flame falter and continued to sing, feeling the life-force burning strong in her chest, spiralling out into the song, but sapping her. The glow remained as she felt herself start to slide downwards and fall.

She knew now that this was her last song. She couldn't help but think back, how had it come to this?

_The paw of earth who worked the land._

_The soaring air lost in the sand._

_The water sees with clear blue eyes._

_The hidden fire just walks on by._

_The stifled light must flee, and fast._

_The heart of dark must face their past._

_All of this shall come to pass..._

_The time is coming._

The golden glow was still shining around her as she shut her beak and relaxed her body, accepting her fate as her wings and tail folded upwards. She could feel the flame fading from inside her and the light surrounding her was fading too.

As she fell she started to remember.

It had been a year ago now, not that long, she had only been a simple green Pteri then, eager to read all of the books she could find and when there was an author's talk she'd always be there.

There was one that was different from the rest though, she seemed to be part of the story rather than separate from it, she seemed to be living magic herself. She'd read a story and it had woven itself inside their minds. She had been enchanted as the light itself clustered round the author's golden coat...

And then she'd laid a finger against her forehead. The light had blazed through her mind, swamping her thoughts as she felt something shine from her, feeling more than alive.

The touch had left a golden spot on her feathers even after the finger had been taken away, and the woman's eyes had shone in a spark of kindred spirit. She'd only noticed the mark when she returned home and never been able to explain the feeling when that fire danced in her mind. The Pteri knew why the woman had done it though, the magic had decided it by itself, just like when it decided she should sing.

Since that time she'd been questioned constantly and eventually got painted starry to hide the golden oval on her forehead. It was then she had started singing, the fire welling up and telling people about the future.

In the beginning the songs had been pleasant, but one after another the disasters had come. Just like Caylis she had been rejected and even attacked, it seemed people never learnt.

She'd been running from them for a month now as the situation in Neopia got more desperate, everyone could tell something was going badly wrong, and even if she could say _what_ was happening she couldn't explain _why_. Another reason for people to turn against her.

Still, she was almost glad those times were over now. The flame of her magic was fading with her strength. She didn't know what would happen if her magic, her life force, ran out, would she even live long enough to die? Or would she fade and not even leave a body behind?

_I hope they find them_, she thought with a smile, closing her eyes to the sky one last time. _The world needs heroes._

The people who had chased her watched the starry Pteri plummet like a comet towards the ocean, feathers rippling until the glow had faded. With a small splash the Pteri struck the ocean, sending a plume of droplets into the air that held for a moment before breaking apart, leaving only ripples to show the seer's entry into the water.

Far away the pearly pink portal shone against the expanse of space. Letting people walk through from somewhere else to Neopia, as it had done for years, unchanged. But recently it had been, wavering, wobbling, cutting off some people from entry.

Suddenly the gently spinning edge of the oval wobbled, the crowd around it froze, staring as with a non-existent 'thunk' one side buckled inwards, as if someone had punched the edge inwards. It still spun on itself in space, holding on...

Another thunk, another. The portal was crumpling as a swarm of people rushed through from nowhere, shepherded by anxious faeries appearing with more batches of humans. Various types of faerie clumped together, forming rings to make straining mini-portals from which humans flooded in a race for the rapidly failing exit.

Panic raged as everyone crowded towards the exit, jamming in their haste, many spinning round the edge in the crush as more and more came through and vanished in.

The tide was forced to slow as another dent appeared, humans crazily forcing themselves through as the faeries panicked, could they get everyone out in time? The crowd lessoned out after the initial surge, stragglers and gamers flying at top speed to reach the portal before it shrank again, a high whining sound ringing through everyone's mind.

Suddenly there were no more humans and Fyora was free to step up to the portal and raise her wand, feeding her magic directly in to try and sustain it. Her face suddenly paled as the wand started shaking, forcing her to let the spell go as she staggered back into supportive arms with a shake of her head, every magic user knew when you couldn't stop the inevitable.

So she simply watched with the others, helpless, as the portal shrank to the size of one person, a normal window, the window in a door, a ring...

Neopia was cut off entirely.

Anarchy descended. Pets had no owners, faeries were struggling for answers, others were looking for the cause of the portal's collapse for clues.

The normal pets dissolved into tribes and gangs. Neopia Central found tightly knit groups of friends working together to gain food, making do with what territory they could find. As time went on and the inevitable wars passed each group gained their own function and name, leading to clans and guilds formed out of mutual skills. Other groups pointed members and their children to the right group for them.

Further out there were also tribes and though Meridell and Brightvale managed to survive relatively unchanged Skarl had never had to work so hard in his life as when the riots came. Faerieland also maintained civilisation as the entire city searched for answers. The prophecy was much talked of and the obvious answer to the problems was to find the pets mentioned? After all, they could solve this.

Queen Fyora folded her arms with a frown as she surveyed her kingdom, pondering what the small Poogle messenger had said. "They wish me to launch an expedition?"

"Yes your Majesty, the prophecy..."

An elegant hand waved them into silence, "I know. That is why I was thinking. The circle spinning is obviously the portal. I could not stop this happening." She lapsed into silence for so long the pink creature spoke up,

"Your Majesty?"

"Take this message to the counsel."

"Yes your Majesty."

The faerie Queen looked out of her window for a long time before answering.

"A notice is to be passed to all of Neopia. The prophecy shall not be talked of openly and the pets not searched for. Any who do not know of the prophecy will not be informed of it, if there is a suspicion that a pet may be of the prophecy then they shall not mention it, but give any assistance that is asked for."

Her gaze turned to the messenger, "To my council only tell them that I shall not openly try and help it, interference will only cause more suffering, direct our efforts into discovering the cause of this and giving aid to those who need it."

"I shall tell them at once your Majesty,"

"Do well."

The Poogle left at a run, leaving the Queen alone in her room to continue looking out the window pensively. Just six people to bear the weight of a whole world. Fyora sent her best wishes out to them, they would need it.

_The time was coming..._


	2. Paw of Earth

And here we have the second instalment of the story, where we meet a character who is a long time favourite of mine, I gave him the title Odd-job Bob in the first place, though he was already Bob.

Characters, locations etc belong to Neopets, plot belongs to me!

Yes, I really did see some people having that conversation about them. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

_He was walking through the wood, only a few minutes away from his cottage. He smiled as a small group of Beekadoodles streamed from a bush next to him and vanished into the trees. He was so happy here that he couldn't imagine being anywhere else. His orange paws reached downwards and the mane of fur brushed a nearby bush, causing a slight rustle other than that caused by the wind. Funny, it sounded like cloth rather than hair on bush._

_ His back paw printed firmly on the ground, orange against green and brown..._

"OHEMGEE! Look it's like, the janitor!"

Odd-job Bob the Yurble jumped awake and reached out to try and whack the child who had disturbed his sleep, his peaceful dream... Instead his paw found the mop and he stood up to grumpily return to washing the floor.

At least it was work. At least he got some recognition...

"OMG! I'm like, going to call it Cecily!"

The Yurble paled under his orange fur and stamped over to the annoying Kacheek, he could break the script every so often. He whacked them soundly with the broom handle, "My name is BOB!" he growled as he returned to his corner, feeling better.

However he knew that no matter how much bashing happened he wouldn't get his dream back, he wouldn't get his old home, his old job. Yes, travelling was wonderful, but it wasn't exactly home in an earth-stained sack.

Now the excitement over constellations had ended the hall was relatively deserted apart from the strange one that came in every so often. Bob sighed, he needed another job, one that could get him out and about again, he couldn't stay in one place too long doing the same thing, that was why TNT gave him the contract after all...

"Mr. Odd-job Bob?"

The Yurble's head jerked up at the voice and met the eyes of the post Lenny, "Yeah?"

"I have a letter for you." The Yurble nodded and reached out to take the letter, "Who from?"

"They wish to remain anonymous." The Yurble's paw stopped in its tracks, anonymous letters were never good nowadays, they'd been introduced recently and only caused trouble from what he could see. He took it anyway and shooed the Lenny away before he looked at the letter warily. It didn't seem to be hate-mail, just plain paper with a slight pearly sheen to it and... the Yurble sniffed the paper.

Earth? This envelope smelt of damp earth! He ripped it open hastily, nothing from home could be bad... However his heart sank as he saw curly dark script on the clean paper. It seemed that it didn't come from home after all, the scent had tricked him. He dropped it in disgust, the paper falling to the floor, he hated when people misled him, hated it! The Janitor picked up the mop and ferociously started to clean the floor, sweeping the offensive article to the side of the room where it was promptly forgotten about.

He only spotted it a few days later as it gleamed amongst the dirt when he was sweeping it out. Bob looked at it uncertainly and decided he probably owed it at least _one_ read. True, it wasn't from home, but damp earth was still a good sign.

He sighed and picked it up in his claws, tucking it into his ruff until he'd swept out the dust it had been sitting in, as unsoiled as the day it arrived. That made the Yurble frown suspiciously. It had been sitting in dust and rubbish but didn't have a speck on it? That alone sparked his curiosity, but he plodded along to tip out the dust and returned to his corner before satisfying his interest.

The script flowing over the page was a dark luxurious purple against the cream paper and the Yurble nodded approvingly, the match of colours was artistry. He then continued to look at what the message actually said...

_Mr. Odd-job Bob the Yurble,_

_It has come to my attention that you are looking for a new job opportunity and I believe I have the solution to your search._

The Yurble smiled, he didn't know how this person knew about that, but it certainly was what he had been hoping for. He just hoped TNT didn't mind the change of service...

_However as far as I can ascertain your current location is many miles away from where I require you to be, that is to say, Mystery Island._

Mystery Island? Now there's a place he hadn't been before, it could even be interesting. The Yurble read through it again, then tapped his claws on it, "Sounds reasonable," he said aloud in a mutter, "Don't see why I shouldn't go as no-one's turned up from TNT to offer me another job..."

Having decided this he ambled to collect all of his stuff up and thought, then carefully lifted the mop, taking off the end to reveal the old wooden staff, which he propped against the wall for a moment.

However the Yurble then looked at himself, all dressed up in his green toga and bright sash. He shook his head and looked over to the bag he'd put supplies in. He took a deep breath and removed the food from the sack, unfolding it to reveal a brown homespun garment that still fitted, clean, but poor, and reasonably well made.

Could he wear it again? It would be like wearing memories. Time seemed to stretch as he stared at the garment, scenes playing out in his mind's eye.

An orange Yurble child danced happily among flowers under his mother's eye. A teenager walking with his dad being told the names of all the plants. An adult beaming at a healthy field.

Then the images flickered, a wasp stung the child, the teenager was wrestling with a Blumaroo in the mud, the adult and his family forced out of their cottage. Bob shut his eyes. He didn't want to remember, wearing the brown tunic would be submitting to his old self, not the fierce Yurble he was known as.

His family. Bob fiercely turned away from that line of thought, slamming his fist into the wall with a thump that shook the room. There was an indistinct growl as the brown tunic was chucked on and the toga left neatly folded, though the yellow sash remained around his shoulder to hold the really important things. The orange paw found it's place on the staff and the door to the Hall Of Heroes slammed shut, a series of thumps leading away from the temple as the Janitor left.

The Yurble scowled as he carefully navigated his way through the crowds in Altador's main square, it kept everyone from walking into him. However he then realised something strange. Why were all the vendors wearing green sashes? With a frown the Yurble stumped over to the edge of the square and bent to tap a small Kacheek on the shoulder, "What's with the green? And why are you lot all wearing grey stuff?" Bob asked, noticing the grey sashes around the children's... no, orphan's bodies.

The kid stared at him like he was a freak, "Stop playin' around, everyone knows grey is street kids!" The kid lost his cocky look when he recognised the orange Yurble's face and gulped. Bob loved being recognised.

"I said..."

"Light green is merchants sir," the child replied promptly, eyes on the staff which the Yurble had idly started to spin around his front paws, "Grey is street kids, light blue is healers, dark blue is mage and the braid colour shows the element, white is cooks, dark yellow is transport, black is law, dark green is farmers..." He stopped as the Yurble brought the end of the staff to the floor with a thud.

"So what's odd-job man then?" he asked casually.

"Travelling people are light yellow sir." The child's eyes darted to the sash the Yurble was wearing and the fierce face above twisted into a smile, surprising the child.

"Well isn't that convenient. I bet a plain sash means unattached?"

"Yes sir, how come you don't know this already?" The child was probing for something.

"Busy working," the Yurble jerked his thumb back towards the Hall as he looked out over the crowd thoughtfully, "I think I'll be leaving ye now." He didn't even notice he was slipping back into his old accent as the old clothes became comfortable against his fur, scratching his back absently as he walked into the hollering crowd.

He also didn't notice the kid watch him for a moment before scampering off, too intent on finding out what else had happened during his absence. Surprisingly few people recognised the Yurble, and all looked at him suspiciously when he asked for information. His mood darkened as he left people whispering in his wake. Something was going on, and by heck he was going to find out.

He completely forgot the whispers when he heard the transport portals had vanished, mane standing up in a stiff brush. He was NOT going to swim the ocean! But he didn't have enough space for food to walk and there was a whacking great sea between here and Mystery Island!

However he also didn't have enough money to fly. Bob growled a curse when he realised the several months notice had been for precisely this reason, though how the sender had known he wouldn't fly... He fumed and realised this was the perfect excuse to visit his family, he had plenty of time after all, but what about food and the mountains?

With his well known hunter's grin he realised he could use the skills he'd forgotten, nothing would be more natural in this tunic... he cast an experienced buyers eye over the marketplace, the brilliantly visible and flimsy armour, the weapons they were selling were all so much faff, a staff was more than a match for anything he came across if you knew how to use it. You had to if you didn't want dead birds on the farm, and you wanted them alive so you didn't get a whole flock of them onto you, it was a mutual understanding.

All in all he ended up spending about 2000 Neopoints on simple food (Bloomin' inflation) before making his way, sometimes a little forcefully, through the crowd. His lips curled in a fierce grin when no-one could see the solid Yurble enjoying himself, it would completely ruin his reputation if he was spotted with anything but a scowl.

Eventually he was in the forests outside the city and shook off the grumpiness that came to him naturally in a city, he hadn't been in a forest in years, desert, Altador... With staff planted firmly in the ground at each step he began the long trek.

He had always liked working, came of being brought up on a farm, came of his gruff temper scaring away others, came of a deep feeling of being useful. That had all ended years ago. He had nothing to do now but think, and remember...

And thwack the occasional petpet that tried to steal his food! The thing flew sideways into a bush with a squark and the Yurble relaxed, staff moving to rest by his side as he continued to walk. He'd tried to fight the people who'd come to repossess his farm too, he had no debts! He had bought nothing!

He looked away, his anger had led to hitting the corrupt collector in the arm. For that he had been turned out, sued, he had to work for neopoints to send home. Bob wondered how his family were, did they still get the installments of money TNT were sending them? He still had questions buzzing round his mind when he tucked himself away in a bush, orange blending with green in a way that didn't seem entirely possible.

Not that his dreams were peaceful at all...

His staff spun, remembering old moves as he fought solidly, trapped in the centre of a crowd that never stopped coming, but never attacked, just pressed in until the impression of harm became more apparent. Fighting constantly until suddenly the images vanished and he could stop, propping his staff firmly on the grey sand at his feet.

_Welcome_, something said from nowhere. He glanced around to confirm his suspicions that there was no apparent end or features to the sea of grey sand he was on, _"Where the heck am I?"_ his voice rippled strangely through the emptiness.

_Asleep,_ the voice replied, _but thinking._

_"That makes NO SENSE!"_ he yelled, a flare of anger bending the air around him.

_I'm doing you a service, did you not realise you didn't tire while fighting? You can practice anything here and it will not affect you._

The Yurble's eyes narrowed, _"Who are ye?"_

_ Someone who wishes to give you a helping hand. _

The Yurble snorted derisively, his expression of contempt spreading through the place, _"What do ye want?_"

_I want you to listen, I want you to think, but mostly I want you to get through this alive._

_ "Well doesn't that statement just fill me with confidence..." _he grumbled sarcastically, _"what do I have to be wary of?"_

_ Those who wish to find you, you will need to be as silent as you were before._

_ "HOW DO YOU KNOW!"_ the Yurble yelled at the top of his lungs, _"How do you know my thoughts, my life!_"

_You can find anything if you know where to look, there are many secrets in the dark..._

_ "SHUT UP! I don't want to hear! I don't want to know!"_

_ You have to remember if you want to live, their watchtower is one day's travel from you. If you wish then you can ask it to play here, you will be safe if you do so._ The voice sounded almost kind as they spoke, as if they knew it was hard. _There is one more night before you reach there if you want to put it off._

_ "No,"_ he growled, looking to the side, _"I've been putting it off for years."_

There was definitely compassion in the speaker's voice. _You will do well._

_"Do_ _well at what?"_

He never got an answer. Instead the grey sanded plain melted away to be replaced by the grey of hard stone. The Yurble looked to his side and saw an indistinct shape beside him, then concentrated to reveal exactly what he expected. He'd always been good at hiding in plain sight, he was a person of the country, half-wild, of course he could, that's why he'd been hired.

The Yurble in the brown tunic picked up his iron-shod staff from its resting place on the floor, grip as secure as always. Bob followed his younger self, strolling through the corridors and memorising all over again the toll post's corridors, its labyrinth built to catch people trying to illegally cross through the pass without paying the extortionate fee. No wonder Altador and Shenkuu hadn't been found easily.

Admittedly he hadn't actually been there to cross, he'd deliberately walked into the open door they left after a little studying of the price and the inscription over the other door. _"Those who take or miss the fee shall get and lose the chance to flee," _he said suddenly, taking a mental bet and smiling in satisfaction when the other voice spoke.

_You are excusing your actions._ The Yurble scowled, of course that was what he had been doing, who wouldn't want to excuse what he had done?

_ "Their prices WERE extortionate,"_

_ YOU were cheap._

That stung. They slipped into silence as he grumbled about being desperate, then stopped, _"I know what happens next."_

He looked on in horror as his counterpart pressed a switch and floated through the hidden staircase belonging to the common soldiers that patrolled the labyrinth, the next staircase was located with ease and the Yurble drifted up it, an orange shadow.

_"Must I watch this?"_ he asked as his former self paused briefly at a lock before it opened without a sound. The pet stepped smartly to the side and out the way as the door swung open, catching it in his paw. The Yurble smiled, everyone thought they were so secure with the labyrinth below, none could get through there. Not even a determined Yurble.

_Stop lying to yourself._

He hung his head in shame. _"I was a thief... and an assassin."_

_ A good one._

_ "I only did it to feed my family, but those people had wives too! Mothers! Sons!" _Odd-Job Bob the Janitor closed his eyes tightly as the staff came down with a sickening crunch.


	3. Soaring Air

Welcome to another instalment of the time is coming! But let me tell you a story before we start...

In something that approximates the real world I run a multi-crossover role-playing campaign called Coincidence, and if they spend resources they can know OC things IC. However there was an important story I was referencing and when they asked me what it was I happily gave them the name, then realised I hadn't put it on the internet, which is a shame as it would help them.

The next day I woke up to a review on "The Time Is Coming", the story I thought had been locked away on my computer.

Coincidence?

Who knows.

But I certainly hope you enjoy it. *insert standard disclaimer here*.

* * *

It took a while for him to work out which way up was, there was nothing that he could see to give him any bearing on his direction. Nothing visual anyway, instead the heat told him, caressing his stomach as his back cooled.

That alone showed him which way he needed to go. Without opening his eyes the creature propelled themselves out of the sand, spinning as they flew into the bright sunlight, blinding after the cool darkness of the place he'd slept.

Snarri stretched his wings as the air whistled past him, the creature diving onto, and partially into, the sand beneath him before he folded his wings and made his way towards a shining pillar in the distance, Coltzan's shrine.

Not that he was going to approach it, he only went close enough to visit the oasis and drink, savouring the liquid pouring down his throat. At least it was quiet round here at this absurd time of morning, he didn't have to wait until the oasis was deserted to approach.

He darted backwards with a wordless hiss as a shadow fell over him, opening his wings with a snap at the huge red Grarrl who had disturbed him. Neither pet said anything, both freezing at the sight of the other before the Grarrl lumbered to the pool and drank, eyes on the Hissi who was rapidly vanishing into the sand without so much as a word.

"Not very friendly was he?" asked the red Kyrii who walked up next to the Grarrl, "Who was he, d'you know?"

"Nope," the Grarrl's voice dipped and rose, sounding more like a dim-witted Lupe for a moment, "Nev'r seen 'im before in me life."

"Strange, neither have I," The Kyrii thoughtfully scratched at the skin below his turban, "Maybe we should go an' find out, what'cha think?"

"Maybe," came the reply with a large slurp.

"Oh push over, I don't want ter be responsible fer you draining the entire oasis."

"Yess'r."

Snarri arched his body, sending it flying into the sand of the Lost Desert without a second thought, fleeing as fast as he could from the two pets there,

_Oh Fyora..._ I_ mustn't let myself be seen, mustn't mustn't mustn't, _he berated himself as he ran, _stupid stupid stupid Hissi! Letting yourself be seen, what would Elder Praxtis say?_

Elder Praxtis would cuff his grandson over the head and tell him to try again and do better next time. The Hissi smiled, his life there had been lovelyamong his tribe in the humid trees on the island far away...

He shook his head, no point daydreaming about it, he couldn't get back there without a boat and he couldn't get a boat without being seen. Admittedly Snarri never HAD got why he shouldn't be seen, something about the other pets not accepting him and capturing him like that little Hissi who'd walked too far towards the tomb.

Unless... Snarri looked up at the sky and sighed, there was no chance of a storm like the one that had brought him here, not a cloud in the sky, again. There never was, not here. There was only the restless wind, not even a steady set of thermals, they shifted so often so gaining height was near impossible.

If a whirlwind DID pick up though...

_Snarri had been the best flyer on the island, but the most foolish, everyone knew you couldn't ride the tropical storms and whirlwinds that plagued the island in winter... But he had always liked a challenge, why couldn't you ride a whirlwind? He'd manage to do something everyone else had only dreamed of and he was just a teenager..._

Snarri's head shot round and dived, speeding easily into the loose sand as footsteps approached. He needed to hunt for food anyway. Snarri's tongue flicked out and he flew through the sand, feeling the grains slide over his scales with a slight hiss. The Hissi's body twisted as he felt a slightly more solid pillar of sand and he grinned.

Sand was a good training material to strengthen his wings, but he needed to be gentle now, right wing lifting the sand slightly, feeling the smooth skin of purple fruit rapidly covering over as sand spilled back into the space, the roots of the plant holding the unmagine in place as Snarri picked it off the stem and started to munch.

_His wings spread and off he went, feeling himself spiral and soar into the air, riding the hurricane, flipping and twirling as he caught the wind, not realising how high it was taking him, upwards, upwards... He laughed and flipped to look down at his home form higher than he'd even been before in his life. But it was gone, sand stretched for miles beneath him as the wind let him go, leaving him alone over the desert._

Still in his memories he the world suddenly jerked, thesand around him starting to shake and rise towards the surface. The Hissi writhed and spread powerful wings, pumping them upwards until he shot straight out of the sand, head-butting the Grarrl squarely in the chin at a speed that made the Hissi blur. Snarri shot away backwards as the red Grarrl from the oasis slowly fell backwards and landed with a thump on the sand, eyes rolled back into their head and the concealed net falling from its claw.

"Well, looks like we meet again," drawled the red Kyrii, idly examining his fingers before sharp eyes flicked up to Snarri, "hows about waitin' around so you can apologise to my friend for knockin' 'im out?"

The Hissi warily remained hovering, this Kyrii looked like an experienced con-man and just as dangerous. "What do you want?" his tone was guarded, why were they after him?

"To know why a handsome Hissi such as you is hidin' round these parts, far as I know there's no-one out for a youn' red thief..." the Kyrii's manner was idle, but again, those eyes were too sha... wait he knew what a Hissi was?

"How did you know...?"

"Sheesh, you've been underground that long?"The Kyrii's grin at the confused teenager was more of a smirk, "Hissi's were discovered years ago. Come down here an' talk, I can't get a good look at yer when I'm facin' the sun."

Darn, he'd noticed Snarri's tactic. The Hissi circled down to land to the Kyrii's left, watching him uncertainly, that smile was disturbing. "Letme introduce myself, IwantlotzofNPsLOL, Ashton to my friends," a paw was offered and the dazed Hissi shook it.

"That lump of Grarrl over there is my associate Mrbigandscary, otherwise known as Max," an expansive paw took in the entire desert along with the Grarrl, "And we're here to help poor helpless Neopians just like you!" He finished with a beam.

"Not a chance," was Snarri's reply, a light tint of his Mystery Island accent that made him sound like he should be in lush forests and sunlit bamboo homes rather than this dry emptiness, "I may have been hiding for months but I'm not a complete idiot."

The Kyrii burst out laughing at the plain honesty, dropping his casual manner that marked him as a salesman and instead adopting a more natural relaxed pose. "Well, we were curious y'see, as you were lost in the sand an' all that. We reckoned somethin' was up and you flew pretty fast so..." the Kyrii trailed off, having realised just how close he'd come to breaking Fyora's announcement.

"So what?" Drat the clever ones... Ashton's life would be a lot easier if people didn't ask awkward questions.

"Wondered if you..." the Kyrii scrabbled for an excuse and chimed in not a moment later, "...could 'elp us out, a good flyer's always handy on the high seas."

"High seas?" Snarri's attention was completely focussed now. Ashton grinned, bingo.

"Yeah, we carry cargo between 'ere, Neopia Central, Meridell and Mystery Island, though we're considering branching out to Lutari island and Alt..." Ashton didn't even need to finish his sentence.

"Mystery Island? Could you...?"

"I suppose..." The wily Kyrii mused, "for a price." The Hissi nodded desperately, _Away from home for that long, huh?_

"Yes, you said flyers are handy right? I'll earn my passage!" his wings were fanning slightly absently in his excitement, sending small clouds of sand flying. The Kyrii shielded his eyes and the Hissi stopped abruptly.

"We've the Meridell leg to make first before we go to the Island, you ok with that?"

Snarri shot into the air, happily spinning and barrel-rolling as the sunlight caught his scales, performing an aerial dance of joy as he laughed. He was going home!

Ashton watched the display as he waited for Max to wake up, that boy was definitely the creature of air.


End file.
